


School Trip to the Shadows

by Yami_Kada7



Series: Link Down [7]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Day 7, Ignis are not here for some reason, Link Sense shenanigans, M/M, School Trip, VRAINS Week 2019, VRLink14, Vacations, light firestorm, possessed!yusaku, takeru hates ghosts and anything scary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 10:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yami_Kada7/pseuds/Yami_Kada7
Summary: Take a break, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Who on earth could find this freaky island fun?!orKaibaCorp sponsors a field trip over the summer to Duel Academy, and everything goes downhill from there.





	School Trip to the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> This is super late but at least I got it up! Life has just been getting in the way of writing recently, but hopefully I can catch up on the missed prompts over the next couple days!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story!

“So this is where we’re staying?” Takeru looked around. “It seems nice!”

Yusaku shrugged. “As long as there’s enough space.” He set his overnight bag down on the middle bunk, leaving the other bunks for them to choose from. 

Admittedly, the flat surfaces of the room were a bit dusty, and it was ridiculously narrow, but at least the school trip only lasted for a couple days, and it was better than the times they had slept in the truck. 

“What, you call this enough space?! They stuffed the three of us in one room! And what’s with this bunk bed?” Shima pointed at it. “There’s three bunks! Why not have a normal bunk bed and another to one side?” 

“Does it look like there’s space for that? They wouldn’t be able to fit the desks in here if they went with that method.” Yusaku brushed dust off his side from where his vest had rubbed against the desks, and Takeru was distracted again by the sight of it. The red was jarring on Yusaku.

“Ugh! Why do we have to be stuck in this! The third years all get to have their own rooms with their own bathrooms! Even the second years at least get rooms to themselves!” Shima whined incessantly.

“Third years do get all the benefits, but that’s because Kaiba Corp wants them to come to their university. They want to impress them.” Takeru tried.

“Well whatever the reason is, we don’t have time to discuss it. The meeting at the main academy building is starting soon. We don’t want to be late for that.” Yusaku interjected, cutting off whatever Shima was about to say. 

They walked down the stairs and started down the path. Takeru looked around them as he went, noting that there really wasn’t much near the dorm they were staying in, just the docks they had arrived from. The thought of arriving made him smile, recalling how they were greeted warmly and given bags of brochures and pens and the vests that they were all for some reason required to wear for the duration of the trip.

Yusaku had frowned at the contents of the bags, pulling out the vest and inspecting it as if it had personally offended him. Red really wasn’t his color. Takeru tried to cheer him up, laughing that at least it was _his_ color. Yusaku had immediately turned away from him, so he didn’t know if it worked or not, but had put on the vest with no further protest.

“It sure was nice of them to give everyone these vests, don’t you think? I mean, they’re pretty high quality for freebies.” He turned the lapel over, tugging at the material. “It’s solid stuff.”

“And way too hot! Seriously, they send us here in the middle of our summer vacation, to an island that might as well be tropical with this weather, and instead of something practical like a t-shirt we get these tacky vests!” Shima was on a roll today, it seemed.

Takeru hummed. “Well, you are right about the heat. I’m gonna take my jacket off.” He shrugged out of the vest and unzipped his white and yellow hoodie, shouldering out of it and fastening it around his waist. 

He was interrupted before he could put his vest back on. “Whoa Transfer Student! I didn’t realize you were so ripped!” Shima elbowed him, grinning. “What, planning to show off to all the ladies during the trip?” He attempted to wiggle his eyebrows.

Takeru was really confused until he looked down and remembered what he was wearing. A dark grey muscle shirt that went down to his elbows and halfway up his neck, and was a bit tight on his frame. “Ah. I forgot to put my glasses on when I was getting ready this morning, so this must have been what was at the top of my drawer.” He shrugged, looking over at the other two, only for Yusaku to immediately turn his head to face the path instead of himself, ears red.

He shrugged into his vest, keeping the glimpse he got of Yusaku’s expression in mind to interpret for when Shima wasn’t yammering in his ear. Now that he looked, Yusaku seemed oddly tense, like he was focusing in on something but was trying to do something else. “Hey Yusaku,” he cut off whatever Shima was saying now about exercise, “Are you okay? You seem on edge.”

“Hm?” Yusaku glanced back over to them, and his eyes seemed like they were trying to follow something in the air but not quite locking on to it. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little headache.”

Shima’s head whipped around to Yusaku. “You sure it’s just that, Fujiki? After all, if it’s more serious then the infirmary is clear across the island from us!”

Yusaku waved him off. “It’s fine. I’ll just get some water after the meeting, during lunch.”

The rest of the walk was mostly uneventful, the only building they passed before getting to the main building was the dorm the second years were staying in, students in yellow vests hanging out around it. Yet the closer they got, the anstier Yusaku seemed, his gaze following trails through thin air and occasionally tilting his head as if he was trying to hear something better. He kept twitching too, little hand movements that might have tried to be fists. 

Thank whatever higher power there might be that Shima was still as oblivious to the actions of the people around him as ever. There was a small crowd outside the main building that was easy enough to lose him in, and Takeru pulled Yusaku by the elbow until they were in a hallway that led to a bathroom. 

“Okay, what’s going on? You’re clearly not alright. Do you need anything?” Takeru was not going to let Yusaku b.s. his way out of this one. 

Yusaku looked about ready to demand that he drop it, so he upped his glare to Bitch I Know JudoTM and placed his hands on his hips, making sure to flex his arms. Yusaku tried to match it, but was too tense for I’ll Duel You Into PulpTM to be very effective. He sighed. “It’s my Link Sense. It keeps acting up.”

He ran a hand through his hair, which almost made Takeru miss his next words. “It’s weird, I’m used to it usually, but this island is very strange. It’s signals are constantly fluctuating, which is unusual for a place that supposedly has as advanced of a network as this one, and my brain keeps trying to make sense of the stimuli in weird ways. Plus the signals are coming from all over the place, normally an island like this would have a few key points like the dorms and this building that would be stronger, but that’s not the case here.”

Takeru blinked, thoroughly confused by about half of what Yusaku had said. Kusanagi-san had said before though that Yusaku’s Link Sense was basically a heightened electromagnetic sensor, but it was all greek beyond that. “So, what you’re saying is that your psychic senses are tingling?”

Yusaku gave him a flat stare, but the corner of his mouth betrayed him with a twitch. “Basically.” He stepped back towards the gathering around the corner. “But it’ll be fine. I’ll get used to it.”

Takeru trotted after him. “How does it even work? Do you like, hear something?”

Yusaku hummed. “Not usually. Back in Den City, since the main island of Link Vrains is built so similarly, it’s usually just a little electric feeling when I walk through a wall that’s not there, or a jolt through my system when something in the network goes terribly wrong, and my brain has only visually overlaid it once before, when Revolver first tried to hack the truck.” 

Yusaku glanced all around them. “But here there’s less physical sensation and a lot more visual and audio interpretation. Like over on that wall.” He stared at a perfectly empty section of wall. “There’s this cat, but it’s not really a cat, it’s purple with red eyes and an orb hanging off its tail, and it’s sitting sideways on the wall just staring at me. And I keep hearing a man looking for something, someone named Pharaoh, it was stronger at the dorm room but now it’s only on occasion.” He turned back to look at Takeru. “I don’t know what any of it is supposed to mean. Usually there’s a point to it but…” but it had to be worrying Yusaku if he was talking so much. 

“But it just seems like your brain is pulling tricks on you?” Takeru filled in, and Yusaku nodded. “Well then, I’ll stick with you, and if it gets to be too much, you let me know and I’ll find some way to help, okay?” He squeezed his shoulder. 

Yusaku nodded at him, smile small but there on his face as they rejoined the crowd, and the meeting was called to order. 

* * *

Takeru flopped onto a seat at the dining hall, spent from a whole day of touring the campus with alumni and listening to an old blond man with a shrieky voice talk about the benefits of Duel University and Duel Academy. Dinner had never sounded more appetising, and he salivated at the sight of his fried shrimp. He wolfed it down, then went to the dorm room to get changed for bed. 

He was stopped though, by the sight of their tour guide from earlier in the day, who was knocking at his room’s door. “Is there something I can help you with?” He asked.

The blue-haired man turned, giving him a polite smile. “Yes, sorry for the intrusion, but I noticed during the tour earlier that your friend?” He looked Takeru over, and seemed to come to a decision. “No, friend doesn’t seem to cut it, well he looked like he wasn’t all there during the tour, I wanted to see if he was alright.”

“Oh, Yusaku?” Takeru wracked his brain for an explanation that wouldn’t sound completely insane. “He… had a migraine. Spotty vision and all that, you know. But he was paying attention, as best he could.” And Yusaku had, doing his best to focus on the man and not on the feedback his Link Sense was scrambling his vision with. Takeru was pretty sure he was trying to ground himself.

“A migraine.” The guide’s lips quirked up. “If you say so.” He turned, heading to the stairs. “Let him know that if he needs to talk to someone who gets it, to come find Johan. That’s me.” He pointed to himself. “There’s still a day and a half left before you all go back. I might be able to help him out.” With that not-creepy-at-all sentence out in the air, he made his exit. 

* * *

The next day, Yusaku seemed more present, and he claimed that he had just gotten used to it overnight. Maybe that was the case, but Takeru couldn’t help but hover around him, getting him whatever he needed and making sure that he was well rested. Luckily the scheduled events were only in the morning, and after lunch they were free to choose from a variety of activities. A lot of students went to the lakeshore or the school store, but they found themselves with the duel club going through the small museum dedicated to previous students who had become famous duelists. 

Takeru was shocked to find a picture of their tour guide up on the wall. “Hey Yusaku, take a look at this!” He pointed to the picture and the plaque underneath it. “It’s the guy who came by last night.”

Hosoda-san walked up to them. “You recognize this person?”

“Yeah, he was the tour guide for the group that Yusaku and I were in yesterday, he noticed that Yusaku wasn’t feeling well and stopped by our room to make sure he was alright.” Takeru replied. 

“Well you’re very lucky then, that’s Johan Andersen, one of the top pro duelists. A lot of people would pay good money for a chance to meet him.” Hosoda-san informed them. 

“Oh.” Takeru blinked. “Guess we got pretty lucky then!”

Hosoda-san nodded. “There are also a bunch of strange stories about this duelist, some people even claim that he can see spirits.”

A chill ran up Takeru’s spine. “You mean like, ghosts?”

“Not just ghosts, there is a hefty body of speculation that he can see other types of supernatural phenomena as well.” Hosoda frowned. “However that is completely unscientific, and highly unlikely.” Across the room, someone called for Hosoda-san, and he excused himself.

Takeru turned back to Yusaku to find him studying the photograph intently. “You said that you didn’t think he believed you when you said I had a migraine, right?”

“Yeah…” Takeru didn’t like where this was going.

“Then I think those rumors might have more validity then Hosoda-san gives them credit for.” Yusaku turned from the display, and started walking to the next room.

Takeru matched his pace. “Do you think he can actually see g-ghosts?” He managed to force the word out. 

“I don’t know.” Yusaku was frowning now. “But I’ve never met another person with that sense, so he might be able to for all I know.” 

“So what should we do? Should we go look for him?” Takeru asked.

“Not now, but I will go later, after dinner.” Yusaku responded.

“You mean _we’ll_ go. I’m not letting you go searching through the whole island when your vision’s all wonky without me.” Takeru nudged him as he spoke, smiling at the other.

Yusaku rolled his eyes, but smiled back a fraction. “My hero.” He deadpanned.

* * *

The plan had been to go look for the mysterious Johan after dinner, but they hadn’t factored in the late-night event planned for the last night of the trip. All the first years were rounded up by the second years in their yellow vests, and taken to the start point deep in the forest. 

They were to walk into the forest in groups of three, and make their way along the marked path until they reached the rim of the volcano, where all the students would gather for a large bonfire. Takeru could already tell it would be bad, scary things were _scary_ and Yusaku was already seeing things that might be out of nightmares, for all Takeru knew. 

At least Zaizen-san ended up in a group with the two of them, if they were with Shima Takeru was sure that he would never live the humiliation down. As they waited for their turn in line, Takeru tried to calm himself down by telling himself that it was just the third years dressed in costumes. Very scary costumes, but still costumes.

Then the second year in charge was waving them through, and Takeru was definitely not ready. He stuck close to Yusaku’s side, already ready to jump at the slightest sign of movement from the forest around him. Nothing happened for the first few minutes in, leaving him to stew in anticipation and the other two to cast him concerned looks.

“Are you okay? There hasn’t even been an attempt to scare us yet.” Zaizen-san broke the silence hanging between them.

“Takeru doesn’t do well with ghosts. Or anything out of the horror genre.” Yusaku answered for him. 

Takeru nodded along to his words, eyes darting to every leaf that so much as twitched.

“This is going to be really hard for him, then. I hear the third years like to go all out after having to be on the other sides of this for the previous two years.” She gave him a look. “Just don’t go killing our eardrums, alright?”

“I-I’ll try.” Takeru responded. 

Just then, there was a creak behind them. The other two turned to look, but Takeru kept his eyes firmly in front of him. “Tacky.” Yusaku stated.

Zaizen-san nodded. “That’s clearly just a burlap sack with some marker on it.”

“I guess they’re saving the better costumes for further in.” Yusaku turned back to face forward, and started down the path.

Takeru really did not want to move. He hadn’t even seen what was supposed to scare them but the idea that the path ahead had worse things was just awful. Yusaku didn’t give him a choice though, as he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along, feet dragging.

Fifteen minutes into the walk and they were supposedly halfway through, But Takeru wasn’t looking up to check. Instead he was clinging to Yusaku, hands locked in a death grip at his shoulders and eyes squeezed shut behind the other’s neck. He was pretty sure he had cried at some point, but now he could only shake as Yusaku’s forward momentum tugged him along. Zaizen-san was in the rear, and kept talking in a steady voice as they went to try to calm him down a little. It wasn’t working.

“We’re in an open area now, a meadow. It’s fine Homura-kun, there aren’t any places for people to hide here. You should probably let Fujiki get some circulation back.” She had a good point, and Takeru forced his fingers to relax where they were attempting to cement themselves to Yusaku’s shoulders.

“Sorry Yusaku, are you all right?”

Yusaku rolled his shoulders as he responded. “My arms aren’t asleep, so I think I’ll be fine with a little ice later.”

Takeru completely withdrew, tucking his hands under his armpits. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, it’s this stupid event. It’ll be over soon though, so let’s keep moving.” Yusaku put a hand on his shoulder, and Zaizen san took his arm, and between them they walked him down the path. 

They were in the middle of the meadow, surrounded by space on all sides, when the ground itself heaved up around them. Horrible creatures made of grasses, dead plants, and mud roared in their faces, and Takeru took a few steps back, clamping down on the scream in his throat. His eyes focused on his companions, only to see that they looked shocked as well, clearly not expecting the scare.

Then a hand fell on his shoulder, and despite all of his instincts telling him not to turn around, Takeru turned, and saw a gaping maw of yellow light and yellow eyes surrounded by darkness. Purple, clawed hands reached for him, and a shriek tore out of his throat, and he was running. He was clear across the side of the meadow before Yusaku and Zaizen-san realized it, and he barely heard a call of his name before he plunged into the trees.

He kept running for a long time, not stopping to see where he was or how far he had gotten, every bone in his body screaming at him to get away, get away from the danger. 

There was a crash from behind him, and he moved faster, dodging and weaving through the trees to try to shake off the monsters.

It didn’t seem to work, as the sounds kept growing closer, and he could faintly hear voices telling him to stop. Like heck he was doing that.

But he couldn’t run forever, and he tripped over a fallen branch. He struggled back upright, and was about ready to lose his shoe to get away when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Takeru, stop! You’re safe, it’s fine, just _calm down_.” Yusaku. That was Yusaku’s voice. 

“Take a deep breath in, no, deep breath, match me.” Yusaku moved into his line of sight and held his face steady so there was no place to look but at him. “Match my breathing Takeru. In…” He took a deep breath, and Takeru desperately heaved in air, only to choke and start coughing. Yusaku rubbed his back, keeping up with telling him to breath and calm down, and slowly Takeru’s breath evened out and he leaned into Yusaku, who kept rubbing his back.

“I see you caught him.” A voice called out, and Takeru tensed for a second before realizing that it was Zaizen-san. 

“Yeah. I think we should try to head back to the dorms, Takeru isn’t up for that again.” He could feel Yusaku’s chest vibrate with the words, and his face went hot as he realized that they were basically hugging.

He pulled away, looking at the ground. “We should at least head to where everyone is, the second years will worry if we don’t show up.”

“True.” Zaizen-san looked around them at the forest. “But which way do we go? You kept turning as you ran, and everything looks the same.”

Yusaku pointed off in a direction. “That’s the most recent direction we came from, I don’t know about after that though. I was more concerned with catching up before someone ran straight off a cliff.” A pointed look was thrown at Takeru.

He scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it, let’s just worry about getting back.” Yusaku started off in the direction he had pointed in, and they fell into step beside him. 

They walked in silence for a minute, none of them looking at each other. “Thank you.” Takeru looked over at them. “For running after me. I probably would have run myself straight over a cliff, like you said.” 

“No problem, Homura-kun.” Zaizen-san gave him a smile. “Besides, this is way better than a party with a bunch of teenagers high off adrenaline and fire, on the rim of a semi-active volcano. The forest is nice at night.”

On his other side, Yusaku nodded. “This is quiet, and the weather is nice. If this was the actual way that we were supposed to spend the last night, then it would have been a lot better.” 

Takeru smiled, even as he tried not to cry. He was glad that he had such good friends. On a whim, he reached for where Yusaku’s hand was swinging between them, and gave it a small squeeze. “Thank you.” He repeated, looking straight forward so that they would get it was addressed to both of them. He moved to let go of Yusaku’s hand, but fingers curled around his own.

He tried to keep the butterflies contained in his stomach at the action. 

The forest was nice, but it was also monotonous. After about half an hour with no sign of the path that the test of courage was on, they were forced to admit that they were lost. “At least the island isn’t too big, we should be able to find a landmark if we keep going in one direction.” Takeru tried to look on the bright side.

“Yeah. Eventually.” Zaizen-san kept yawning as they walked, clearly getting tired.

“I’m sure it won’t be too much longer! There are plenty of places that we could end up, and most of them should have people there!” Takeru tried again.

“You mean like there?” Takeru turned to see Yusaku pointing off in the direction they were walking, where a clearing with a sidewalk leading down the center could be seen.

“Exactly! Come on, let’s go!” Takeru pulled Yusaku forward by the hand, and the group hurried to the clearing. 

They burst out of the trees, and looked around at where they were. “This doesn’t look like any place we saw on the tour, right?” Yusaku asked.

Zaizen-san shook her head. “No, I think they might have skipped this part. Weird though. Why skip a whole building?” She stepped closer to the dark structure, which was more of a silhouette in the darkness.

“Whatever the reason, we should see if anyone’s there, and find a way to get in contact with the other students.” Yusaku decided. “Come on.” Now he was tugging Takeru forward as they approached the door.

As they came closer, the details of the building grew clearer, and Takeru kept his hand tight in Yusaku’s. The windows were boarded up and the door hung slightly ajar. No lights were visible when Zaizen-san took a few steps forward and swung the door the rest of the way open, and only the strain of old hinges greeted them. 

“Well, there’s definitely no one here, so how about we just take the path back and get to a more familiar place- Yusaku?” The other’s hand had gone slack around his, and his eyes were glassy, suspended somewhere in the distance.

“Fujiki-kun? Are you alright?” Zaizen-san waved a hand in front of his face as she spoke, then snapped her fingers right in front of his nose. Nothing in Yusaku’s expression changed, and he didn’t even twitch.

“Yusaku? Hey, Yusaku this isn’t funny, look at me.” Takeru stepped in front of him, and cupped his face in one hand. He turned his head slightly, but Yusaku’s eyes stayed locked on whatever it was that he was looking at. Okay. Time to get away from the creepy building.

He grabbed Yusaku’s shoulder and tried to turn him back to the path, but he could only get him so far before his body refused to turn anymore. New plan. He pushed Yusaku’s shoulders as hard as he could, trying to get him to at least walk backwards, but his feet didn’t even budge. Yusaku didn’t even look like he was trying to resist the motions, either. He just, wasn’t moving.

“What’s going on?” Zaizen-san’s voice shook. 

Takeru stepped back, taking another look at Yusaku. “I don’t know, but whatever it is I think Yusaku needs to get out of here.” Maybe to the infirmary, maybe to that mysterious Johan guy. Either worked, as long as they were away from here and whatever it was doing to Yusaku’s head. “Okay, you take his left, I’ll take his right. We’ll just have to pull him out of here.”

Zaizen-san grabbed one arm, and Takeru grabbed the other. They heaved, leaning down towards the ground, shoes digging into the pavement beneath their soles. But no matter how hard they pushed or pulled, Yusaku wasn’t moving. 

Then suddenly, he was. Forward, that is. Yusaku took a step, dragging them behind him, and his shoes were silent but somewhere in the building a step echoed. He took another, and he and Zaizen-san exchanged a look, keeping a death grip on his arms as they dug their heels down, but it wasn’t enough. Zaizen-san let go of him after a few steps, and Takeru reluctantly followed. Inside the building, the steps still resounded, in time with Yusaku’s feet.

Takeru had two last ideas. He mentally apologized, and then kicked Yusaku in the back of the knee when his other leg was raised to take a step. It was like kicking concrete, but harder than he remembered concrete being.

With his last idea, Takeru brought up his arm and delivered a chop to the side of Yusku’s neck, which should have knocked him out. All that happened was that his hand throbbed.

Yusaku was crossing the threshold now, and he turned to Zaizen-san. “Stay here. Actually you should probably go down the path a bit, just in case, but don’t come inside. I’ll see what’s happening, and get him out.” He kept pace with Yusaku as he spoke, drawing deeper into the darkness of the building, the only thing to guide him the grip he had on Yusaku’s arm.

He saw Zaizen-san start to nod before wind rushed past him from deeper in, slamming the door shut. 

He stumbled, nearly letting go of Yusaku and losing track of him before he righted himself. He kept pace with him, leaving one arm out in front of him for any walls or furniture he might walk into. It was dark, completely dark. And he couldn’t even hear Yusaku, could only hear the footsteps echoing somewhere in front of him. It was like Yusaku wasn’t there with him, like he was farther ahead and his body was just catching up.

He swallowed down his fear, repeating to himself that he couldn’t be scared now, Yusaku needed him to keep a level head. Unlike his earlier mantra, this one actually helped him calm down, and thus he didn’t stumble as badly when his foot came down and there was just air for about six inches, where the first step was. There was no handrail, at least, none that he could reach with his one flailing arm, so instead he just clung to Yusaku’s steady form as they descended. 

At the end of the long staircase, Yusaku only walked a little bit farther before coming to a stop. Somewhere behind them, another door slammed. Then the room was lit by lamps all around, and Takeru held his arm up to shield his eyes.

When his eyes had recovered enough, he looked around at the machinery at the edge of the room, then down to the circle that they were standing in. This whole place just kept getting worse. 

There wasn’t anyone in the room with them, but there was a mask sitting on one of the tables at the edge of the room, and it was the only thing that didn’t look dusty. Someone must have left it there, but who? And what did they have to do with what was going on with Yusaku?

Apparently though, there was no time for questions as Yusaku started walking again, heading straight for the mask. Takeru knew it was useless, but he kept pushing back against his shoulders, trying to keep him from it. Yusaku kept walking, and a few steps away his arms came up, and he was reaching for the mask. Takeru was about to chuck the thing across the room, if only to buy more time, but got distracted by the figures in the doorway that they must have come from. It was Johan, with Zaizen-san right behind him. 

Johan slapped a card down onto his duel disk, and suddenly a white dragon filled the room. It took up about half of the space, and it’s head loomed right over the pair. Takeru gulped as the head came closer, even though he knew that it had to be just a hologram.

That theory was dashed as the dragon leaned down, picking Yusaku up by the collar of his red vest. Yusaku lowered his arms and just dangled there, still lost to his mind. Johan strolled up without a care in the world, leaning to the side a little to get a good look at Yusaku.

“Yep, he’s under that thing’s control.” He shook his head. “I’ll just take this and…” He reached around where Takeru was still standing in front of the table and picked up the mask. Without further ado, he slammed it down on the edge of the table, breaking a piece off of it. 

A hideous shriek tore through the room for a solid ten seconds, and Takeru finally moved and clamped his hands over his ears. When the sound faded, he looked up at Yusaku only to find him hanging limp from the dragon’s jaw, head to the side and eyes closed.

“Huh. He should have woken up right away.” Johan beckoned to the dragon, and Yusaku was lowered to the ground, where Takeru caught him and propped him up. 

Zaizen-san came up to stand by Takeru, speaking up for the first time. “What was that? That mask…”

“Oh this guy?” Johan held the broken mask up. “This is the vessel for the manifestation of human darkness itself, he tries things like this every now and then.” He tossed the mask to the side, and a series of whimpers broke out of it as it skittered along the ground. “Your friend was it’s target this time. Luckily that sort of thing is easy to handle, just break the mask and his grasp of the affected person should fade immediately. Or if they put the mask on before you can stop them, you just need to beat them in a duel” He shrugged. “Easy.”

“Easy?” Takeru repeated, incredulous. “ _Easy?_ ”

Before he could get even more worked up, Zaizen-san cut in. “We were in a bit of a rush earlier, you never mentioned why you were all the way out here.” She crossed her arms, waiting.

Johan scratched the back of his head. “Well, I got this call that a few students were unaccounted for, so since this guy tends to trick the lost to his doorstep I came straight here. Good thing too.” He cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure that nothing happened to this guy beside the possession? He wasn’t injured while he was under, was he?”

Takeru could feel his face heating up. “Um, I might have tried to stop him from going into the building after this started, but he should be fine if that’s all.”

“You karate-chopped the side of his neck.” Zaizen-san deadpanned.

“Exactly. Usually people are only unconscious for about a minute from that, he’ll be fine.” Takeru tried for a grin, tightening his grip on Yusaku.

“Well then, let’s just get him out of here. I’ll call the organizers for your group and let them know where you were, so that they won’t be too worried.” Johan brought a phone out of his pocket, and started walking towards the door. 

Zaizen-san started walking too, leaving Takeru to fumble with Yusaku until he could pick him up, and hurry after them. The staircase was lit up this time, and he was careful with his steps so that he wouldn’t jostle Yusaku. As they were walking down the hallway to the door, Yusaku stirred in his arms. 

“What…?” He lifted his head off of Takeru’s shoulder, looking around. “Where am I?”

“The creepy building. You got possessed.” Takeru kept his answers short as he tried to keep his grip on Yusaku now that the other was moving.

Yusaku whipped his head around to look at him, only then seeming to realize the position he was in. “Put me down, I can walk.” He demanded.

Takeru let him down, only for the knee he had kicked earlier to give out under Yusaku. He recovered before Takeru could intervene, wobbling slightly. He winced as he moved through the doorway and out of the building. 

Takeru moved to his side. “You okay?”

“I feel like my arms were torn out of their sockets and put back in, but other than that I’m fine.” Yusaku glanced over at Johan. “What’s he doing here?”

“They noticed that we were gone, so he came here, since apparently the thing that possessed you has some ability to draw people in.” Zaizen-san spoke up. “He stopped you right before it could fully take you over.”

Just then, Johan hung up the phone, and turned back to them. “Yep! That’s about everything. Now to get you back to the other students.”

“You sure we can’t just go back to the dorms? I really don’t want to deal with people after all this.” Zaizen-san voiced for them all. The boys nodded, that sounded like a much better plan.

Johan nodded. “Okay then, to the dorms it is.” 

It took a long time to get back to the dorm, but Takeru couldn’t keep track of how long with how tired he was. All he knew was that they eventually said goodbye to Zaizen-san after Johan raided the cafeteria for snacks for all of them, and they sat down at one of the tables to talk. 

“You can see it too.” Yusaku stated immediately after Zaizen-san left the room.

Johan smiled, completely innocent behind his can of soda. “See what?”

Yusaku gestured to the air by the man’s shoulder. “Don’t give me that, that purple cat has been trying to get your attention since we got out of that building.”

“Is that the one with the red eyes you were telling me about?” Takeru cut in.

“Yeah.” Yusaku nodded, staring Johan down. 

In complete contrast to Yusaku’s seriousness, Johan looked practically giddy. “So you can see Ruby and the rest! I was starting to wonder if the migraine story was actually true.” He smiled at him. “Always nice to meet another person who can see duel spirits. Oh, the others are gonna love to hear about this.” 

“Others?” Yusaku looked shocked. “I’ve never even met one other person with Link Sense. How many do you know?”

“At least six, although not all of them have as broad a range of sight as others, usually the amount someone can perceive a duel spirit depends on how close of a bond they have with them.” Johan leaned forward, lacing his hands together. “I’m a bit surprised that I haven’t seen your spirit partner at all, usually they don’t leave their duelist’s side.”

“I don’t have anything like that, I don’t think. Normally my sense doesn’t work this way.” Yusaku explained.

Johan sat up. “What do you mean by that?”

Yusaku shifted, caught off guard. “Well, since my Link Sense is mainly just my brain interpreting the electromagnetic signals that I can perceive, usually back in Den City that just translates to feeling the structure of the network as if it was a physical thing. I’ve never seen these duel spirits before coming to this island.”

Johan stared at Yusaku for a minute, hand on his chin. “Well that’s a new one, your sense sounds more science-y than spiritual, which is what I’m used to seeing.” He put his hands down on the desk with a grin. “How exciting!”

“That isn’t exactly how I would describe it. Try walking down the street, and going through a wall that isn’t there, but still feels like it is, without flinching. If you can still call it exciting, then let me know.” Yusaku crossed his arms. 

Johan chuckled. “Sorry, it’s just always cool for me to learn more about this kind of thing.”

“I think I understand your point.” Yusaku still had his arms crossed, but had relaxed significantly.

Takeru decided to take advantage of the conversation break. “Well, you two talk technical about your psychic stuff all you want, I’m going to get some sleep. See you!” He stood from the table and headed out the door, making his way over to the staircase. He figured it would be good to give them space to have a full-blown discussion without worrying about him there, plus he honestly didn’t think he could stay awake for much longer. 

He got dressed for bed, decided he was too tired to go wash up, and collapsed in the top bunk, barely remembering his glasses before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

The next morning was filled with packing and last-minute presentations about the school, then after a quick lunch all the students were being herded back to the docks for the boat back to Den City. It was almost a shame, the trip was a welcome break from all the happenings in Link Vrains, but Takeru was glad that it was coming to a close without anything else weird happening. 

Various staff members were on a platform looking over where they were filing onto the ship, and Johan was standing right at the front, leaning over the railing to scan the crowd. Occasionally he would smile and wave at someone, using hand gestures and facial expressions to silently communicate to them over the noise of so many people present. 

His gaze finally found him and Yusaku, and he grinned, giving them a wave. Then he looked at yusaku and raised his eyebrows, raising his thumb in a question. Yusaku sighed as he nodded, answering whatever that was. Johan’s smile widened, then he glanced at Takeru and it shrank to something more playful. He kept glancing between the two of them and smirking, eyebrows jumping, which was possibly one of the weirder things Takeru had seen him do. 

Whatever he was trying to communicate, Yusaku seemed to get it, and he turned away from Takeru and Johan both, hand coming up to cover his face. Takeru glanced between Yusaku and Johan, who gave him a thumbs up and a wave, and waved back before turning to board the boat.

Once they were seated, Takeru let out a sigh. “It’s too bad we’ll never see him again, he seemed nice.” And he did. For all his weirdness, Johan seemed like a good guy, not how he pictured a famous duelist at all.

Yusaku rolled his eyes in response. “Oh we will. He made me join a group chat for people with that sense, and another one for people possessed by that thing. He also showed interest in the effects that Link Vrains has on Den City, and wanted to check them out for himself. So the likelihood of seeing him again is very high.” 

Takeru laughed. “If he needs a cover story for why he’s in town, he can say that he’s coming to the duel club to talk about the pro league.”

“I’m not going to give him ideas that he might actually follow up on.” Yusaku shuddered. “You should have heard some of the stories he was telling. Last night was a walk in the park compared to a lot of it.”

“...I’ll take your word for it.” Takeru laughed, leaning in to Yusaku’s side. “Look on the bright side, this is one trip you’ll never forget.”

“Maybe, but it’s one I wish I remembered less of.” Yusaku leaned back into him, looking out the window of the ship over the water. 

Takeru grinned, nudging Yusaku with his elbow. “No you don’t.” 

Yusaku graced that with a huff of breath, not taking his eyes off the water. “True. I need to remember how scared you were until I can at least tell Flame.”

Takeru gasped, whipping around to face Yusaku. “How could you!” But the other was smiling, and Takeru couldn’t be completely scandalized when his own smile kept trying to break through. They kept talking all through the boat ride, leaning against one another.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought! I love feedback!
> 
> If you're interested, you can find me over on Tumblr under @yami-kada
> 
> In the spirit of last year's Vrainsweek, this piece is not beta'd!


End file.
